Public Statements

House Votes to Repeal Democrats' Health Care Law

Press Release

Idaho Congressmen Mike Simpson and Raúl R. Labrador voted today in favor of H.R. 2, legislation repealing the Democrat's health care law. The bill fully repeals President Obama's health care reform bill that was signed into law last year. The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2 with a final vote of 245-189. Both Simpson and Labrador were original cosponsors of the bill.

"The Democrats' health care bill is wrong for our country," said Simpson. "I strongly believe the best thing we could do is to repeal the bill in its entirety and start the process over by passing smaller bills that enjoy bipartisan support and focus on bringing down costs for American healthcare consumers."

"With this vote, the House took a big first step towards repealing this unconstitutional law -- a step in the direction asked for by a majority of Idahoans," said Labrador. "Repealing this law will enable Congress to begin the process of finding constitutional, market-based solutions to providing Idahoans with accessible and affordable quality healthcare without stifling job growth and increasing government spending."

The bill now needs the support of the Senate before potentially moving to the White House, where President Obama can veto any legislation, however the Idaho Congressmen vow to work to repeal and amend the law in any way possible to limit its impact on small businesses and taxpayers. Congressman Simpson and Labrador pledge to move forward with other measures that have a chance of becoming law offering Americans genuine health care solutions. They both support Idaho's constitutional challenge to the Democrats' bill; they will both work to amend the bill to alter its most onerous provisions; and they will both seek to limit funding of its implementation.

Simpson and Labrador are also cosponsors of three other bills that would repeal individual sections of the burdensome health care legislation. The bills include:

* H.R.154, the Defund the Individual Mandate Act, introduced by Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX). This bill prohibits funds from being appropriated or otherwise made available to any federal department or agency to be used to implement or enforce any federal mandate to purchase health insurance.

* H.R. 144, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, introduced by Congressman Daniel Lungren (R-CA). This bill repeals the onerous and burdensome small business tax reporting provision that requires business owners to submit a separate 1099 reporting form for every single business-to-business transaction that totals more than $600 in a given year.